Google Doodle Celebrates 321 years since the Eddystone Lighthouse was first lit
14th November 2019
Categories: Visitor News
321 years ago today the Eddystone Lighthouse was first lit and it has been celebrated in today’s Google Doodle by artist Gerben Steenks.
The wooden lighthouse, built 14 miles off the coast of Plymouth was the first offshore lighthouse to be built in the UK. Construction started in 1696 under the eye of wealthy English merchant Henry Winstanley. The lighthouse was needed due to the expansive reef known as The Eddystone Rocks, which were such a danger to mariners that boats often hugged the coast of France whilst entering the English Channel to avoid the reef. During construction Winstanley was taken prisoner by a French privateer but his release was demanded by King Louis XIV of France who said “France is at war with England, not with humanity.” Construction re-started on the lighthouse and it was first lit on this day (14th November) in 1698 but was not officially completed until 1699.
The lighthouse rose to an impressive 80 feet above the rock and was topped by a weathervane and a domed cupola lit with 60 candles and a hanging lamp to warn incoming boats of danger. Although Winstanley had hoped that the lighthouse could withstand “The greatest storm that ever was,” he and two lighthouse keepers were inside the tower when the Great Storm of 1703 hit and the lighthouse was destroyed with the three men inside, their bodies were never found.
The lighthouse has been re-built three times since then with the second iteration burning down in 1755. But despite these setbacks the lighthouse lives on, with the most recent incarnation being completed in 1882 by engineer Sir James Douglass. It has continued to protect the lives of maritime travellers for more than 300 years. The lighthouse is now immortalised in the popular sea shanty which begins “My father was the keeper of the Eddystone light / And he slept with a mermaid one fine night”.
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